African Entrepreneurship Record

As 1884 approached, a conspiracy ”feast” was brewing in Europe. Just like the previous life, the location was chosen to be Berlin. However, the purpose and content of this Berlin Conference were vastly different, and unexpectedly, the East African government also received an invitation.

In the previous life, the Berlin Conference was mainly triggered by disputes in the Congo River basin, but in this life, the spark of the Berlin Conference was the Niger River basin.

After all, in the Congo River basin, East Africa had already actually controlled most areas, with only the lower reaches of the Congo River controlled respectively by Belgium and Portugal, and the estuary of the Congo River was completely controlled by Portugal’s Angola colony, so currently, there were no so-called dispute issues in the Congo River basin.

”German Chancellor Bismarck plans to convene an international meeting concerning West African affairs. In name, it is to bring civilization into the West African region and change the backward local situation. In reality, it is to completely resolve the increasingly fierce confrontations and disputes in the West African region, or rather, the colonizers of various West African countries are to divide the interests in West Africa and accelerate the colonization process.”

”Inviting us? Are they really going to let East Africa enter West Africa?” Constantine jokingly said.

”That’s the strange part. To say we in East Africa now are definitely a leading force in Africa, if we set foot in West Africa, wouldn’t they be asking for trouble! So fear this time the intentions are not good.”

”This Berlin Conference is actually a contest among Britain, France, and Germany in the West African region, accompanied by traditional colonial powers like Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal.”

Portugal’s colony in West Africa is mainly the small coastal territory of the Kingdom of Dahomey—Vida, as well as the Portuguese Sao Tome and Principe islands in the Atlantic. The saying ”even a broken ship has three pounds of nails” aptly describes Portugal’s situation, so this Berlin Conference cannot avoid this thoroughly decayed colonial power.

The special mention of Portugal is mainly because Portugal’s participation in this international conference is quite ironic. Just like in the previous life, the countries qualified to participate in this Berlin Conference are the sixteen ”world powers” by Western standards.

Specifically, they include the five major European hooligans, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria, followed by the United States, Spain, the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, the Kingdom of Italy, Portugal, and the only African country qualified to participate—the Kingdom of Heixinggen (East African Kingdom).

If Portugal is not considered a ”power,” then Denmark, Norway, and the now halved Italy would be embarrassed. Although Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden are small in size, they are either developed or wealthy, or like Sweden, have considerable influence in Northern Europe, and these countries are not inferior to several powers in terms of industrialization.

”This Berlin Conference did not invite us Sigmaringen. Will this affect our Sigmaringen’s strategic layout?” Prince Karl inquired.

Sigmaringen is indeed more concerned about the conference content than East Africa, as the main direction of Sigmaringen’s future territorial expansion is West Africa, seeking an independent seaport. However, this Berlin Conference disrupted Sigmaringen’s layout.

And more awkwardly, Sigmaringen is not qualified to sit at the negotiating table, meaning mainstream countries in the world do not recognize the existence of the Sigmaringen royal domain.

In fact, this is not Europe discriminating; many countries are simply unaware of the existence of the Sigmaringen colony, including Germany, which is leading the conference.

Because the geographical location of Sigmaringen is too remote, even the Eastern Azande province bordering East Africa and Sigmaringen, actually besides the military, has little population, let alone Sigmaringen, which needs to pass through East Africa to further develop the Chad region.

Some French expeditions know about the existence of the Sigmaringen royal domain, but they mistakenly perceived the Sigmaringen royal domain as East Africa.

Because before Sigmaringen, the indigenous people in the Chad region mainly dealt with East Africa, many indigenous forces fleeing from the Great Lakes Region to the Chad region naturally considered East Africa the sovereign country.

So before the Sigmaringen royal domain colonized the Chad region, the East African army often patrolled the Chad region to escort East African geologists and expedition teams deep into West Africa.

This led the French to assume the Chad region was East African territory. In fact, over the years it has become the territory of the Sigmaringen royal domain, and the local indigenous forces were driven away by East Africa in advance.

”Karl, there’s no need to worry. At this conference, we will definitely ensure Sigmaringen’s basic interests, but due to the suddenness of the situation, I think in the future it may be difficult for Sigmaringen to acquire a seaport!” Constantine analyzed.

The final result of the Berlin Conference must be to divide spheres of influence according to the powers of various parties in West Africa, so besides the few countries that originally held colonies in West Africa, like Austria-Hungary, Tsarist Russia, Norway, Sweden, and even East Africa, are all spectators. Of course, since attending the meeting, there must be economic benefits compensated to the participating countries, including rights to trade, transit, and develop in West Africa.

In fact, large pieces of land in West Africa have not been developed, especially inland. Colonizers at this time generally developed inland by following the waterways, penetrating deeper into inland regions.

This is also why European and American exploration teams liked to explore river sources. In their previous life, Stanley explored under the banner of exploring the source of the Congo River, preparing for colonization of the Congo Basin with funding from Belgium.

This time, he won’t have that chance because the area west of Kinshasa is entirely under East African control, with East Africa’s inland River and Lake Team able to patrol the entire mid-Congo River.

And the estuary of the Congo River, following Portugal’s defeat of the Congo Kingdom, is completely controlled by the Portuguese. The Portuguese are still a considerable force in Africa, especially in recent years, significantly boosting military strength to cope with East Africa.

Therefore, explorers like Stanley can only operate in the Niger River basin. The fierce rivalry among Britain, France, and Germany in West Africa over the years led to the convening of the Berlin Conference.

Originally in West Africa, France was the strongest, but Britain occupied many good places, most famously the Gold Coast. Now, Germany, as a new world power, also inserted itself into the West African quagmire, turning the entire West African coastline into chaos.

This is also unavoidable, as East Africa blocked Britain’s southward and northward paths, so Britain had to lower its standards, competing with Germany and France for the last uncolonized region of West Africa.

”Germany probably invited us to join the Berlin Conference to have us support its colonial activities in West Africa. As for East Africa hoping to profit from this conference, it’s mostly impossible, after all, Britain, France, Germany, and other countries do not wish to see a behemoth-like country in Africa.

So our primary goal is to strive for conditions on economic interests like Tsarist Russia and Austria-Hungary, while ensuring Sigmaringen royal domain’s relevant rights. However, the current situation of the West African coastline is complex, making it difficult for the major powers to agree on the distribution of West Africa.” Ernst said.

Mainly because Sigmaringen entered Africa too late, if Sigmaringen, like Belgium, colonized Africa simultaneously, this matter would be much easier.

Constantine also remarked to Prince Karl, ”For Sigmaringen to acquire a seaport, negotiations with Germany are indispensable. You let Leopold negotiate with the Prussian royal family in advance. If Germany agrees, this matter will be much easier. However, in doing so, Sigmaringen will owe Germany a favor in the future.”

Owing a favor is nothing to fear, especially among the three royal (imperial) families, all branches of the Hohenzollern family, and the three main branches at that, so the Prussian royal family will certainly support Sigmaringen. However, the attitude of the Prussian royal family does not necessarily represent the attitude of the German government.